It Started With a Letter
by whiteraven93
Summary: Raguna receives a letter from someone in his past. Contest entry for the Rune Haven forum contest.  For Rune Factory 1.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my very first fanfic for Rune Factory, and it will be submitted to _tsuki aoi usagi_'s writing contest for the Rune Haven forum. This is written for Rune Factory 1, set after the plot is finished._

_Theme: Letters_

_Deadline: July 31__st_

_Wish me luck, and be glad you've been spared one of my ungodly-long author's notes._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory, any of its characters/places/items/etc., or the original storyline/plot. I am merely a gamer trying to make my own fantasies real._

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**Part One: The First Step**

The first day of spring was always Raguna's favorite day of the year. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and he could finally spend some time getting his farm back in order. Cave-farming was all well and good, especially during the winter, but he loved the feeling of accomplishment he got from tilling his own field and watching crops grow right in front of his very eyes. This spring day, he decided that he was going to plant a whole mess of strawberries, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes, and maybe even some cabbages. There was no spring crop that he didn't enjoy growing, so he would simply grow them all. With a gentle smile, Raguna hefted his hoe and began turning the rich, dark soil in preparation of planting. He was just finishing the last row, a light breeze cooling the sweat that had accumulated on his brow, when he heard someone shout his name. He turned to see Rosetta by the farm entrance, waving her arm wildly to get his attention.

"Raguna!" she called. "I've got something for you!"

What? A present, maybe? Raguna loved presents, especially from pretty girls. Now that he didn't have to worry about the Sechs Empire destroying the peaceful life he had built, he was perfectly content to settle down in Kardia and raise a family. He knew all of the young women, and he liked them all. He just didn't know which one he liked enough to marry yet. He contemplated how life would be if he married Rosetta while he made his way out of the field. The blonde girl smiled cheerfully when he had stopped in front of her, one of her hands held behind her back to conceal whatever it was she had brought.

"What is it, Rosetta?" Raguna asked curiously.

"It was the strangest thing," Rosetta said. "You see, all the members of my family either own or work in general stores all over Norad. Some have even set up shop in the Sechs Empire. We trade our goods to each other all the time - that's how we sell your crops, by the way. But just this morning, my uncle sent me something from the Sechs Empire, where he lives."

Raguna tried not to be too put off by Rosetta's garrulousness. She was good company, but he would have liked her more if she held her tongue sometimes. He was just wondering what the point of her long-winded story was when she took her arm from behind her and held out an envelope.

"Apparently," Rosetta went on, "someone dropped this off at Uncle Jess's shop and asked it to be 'passed on to the recipient specified.' It went through a few different stores before Dad's, but...well..."

Raguna was surprised enough that Rosetta was fumbling for words, but he was even more surprised when he took the envelope and looked at it. There, in swirling, fancy, lovingly written script, was his name. _Raguna. _He swallowed against the uncertainty welling up in his stomach, not noticing the anxious expression on Rosetta's face. This letter, whatever it said, had come from the Sechs Empire. It had to be from someone who had known him before he had lost his memory...before his memory had been stolen from him. He had been someone then, and this was the first step to remembering.

"Raguna," Rosetta said softly. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he said absently, giving her a small smile. "I'm fine. Um, thanks for...this."

"No problem," Rosetta said, unconvinced but willing to let the farmer end the conversation if he wanted. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

Raguna waited until Rosetta was out of sight before he looked at the envelope again. He almost opened it right there but stopped. Anyone could come and find him here. Without knowing why, Raguna didn't want his past and present to collide so abruptly. It just didn't seem...right. So instead, he made his way to Misty Bloom Cave. No one ever went there, and anyone who did was only there during winter, when they could get inside the cave. He settled cross legged beside the water surroung Misty Bloom's little island and flipped open the envelope. The letter inside was short and written in the same fancy script as his name had been.

_Raguna,_

_I know this must be strange, hearing from me. You probably don't even remember me. In fact, I know you don't. After all, it's my fault that you've lost your memory. I overheard Ethelberd (he's the Emperor here) in a rage because General Lynette's plan had failed. He was so upset! It appears that sending you to Kardia served no purpose, but I hope you're happy there. I assume, though, that they'll leave you alone now, which means it's safe for me send you this. I would have come myself, but travel to Norad is forbidden. So I've used a relay._

_It's my fault that you were used so terribly, so it's only right that I give you back what was stolen from you. Raguna, my dear friend, I can't tell you everything, but I'll certainly try to fill the gaps. I've arranged to send you another letter with everything, so that you can choose whether or not you want to know who you once were. It should come in a day or so. I hope you're not too disappointed if you decide you really do want to know._

_I'm sorry...for more than you know._

_~ Vanessa_

Raguna was stunned. He sat there for a few hours digesting the news he had just received, wondering who this Vanessa could be. Was she a friend? A sister? An enemy who now regreted being hostile toward him? He couldn't know. His only memories were of his life here in Kardia, as a farmer-swordsman. There was so much about himself that he didn't know. Maybe he would be disappointed when he read the promised second letter, but he had to know. This had not been his choice. He didn't _choose _to forget everything. He wanted to know what had been stolen from him. He smiled. Vanessa had used that phrase in her letter. She knew who he was; she held the key to everything he wanted to know. Whatever it took, whatever cruel realities were revealed, he would read that letter.

When Raguna went to sleep that night, he dreamed of a faceless girl reaching out to him. She had something to give him, but no matter how hard he reached, no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't reach her.

He received Vanessa's second letter the next morning.

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_Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm only now seeing that writing for Raguna might be a bit lame (most people seem to use one of the other characters), but I like this story._

_Please, if you've read this far, review. It's wonderful motivation._


	2. Chapter 2

_Here is Part Two. It is written entirely as Vanessa's letter to Raguna, so it is written in first person. I would have written it in italics, but it is easier to read this way. Please enjoy._

_Disclaimer: Same as part one_

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**Part Two: "I Remember..."**

Raguna,

I will start with the beginning, as is proper. When you and I first met, I had just turned seven. My father had thrown a huge party and invited so many stuffy nobles and generals that I sneaked away to the marshes the first chance I got. That's where I found you, knee-deep in a mud pit and bawling your eyes out. (I know I promised never to mention that, but you were.) I had never seen you before, and you had apparently never seen me. You had no idea who I was, even though most of the rest of the empire did. (My father's doing, not mine.) After I had dragged you out of the mud, ignoring your complaints that you would ruin my dress (which you thankfully did; I always hated orange), you told me your name, and I told you mine. Raguna and Vanessa. We talked for a long time, telling jokes and making up stories. I never told you, but you were absolutely adorable when you laughed. You couldn't have been much older than nine, and you still had a bit of a baby face, like me. After that, we met at that mud pit every single day. It was wonderful...until your twelfth birthday, that is.

You don't know this now, but boys in the Sechs Empire are recruited for the military at twelve years old. They serve the empire until their twenty-first birthday. We don't make children fight, of course, but they're put through four whole years of training. I hated to see you go. I remembered how it was with my brothers. After their first few seasons in training, they just weren't the same. They were rougher, colder, meaner. They were everything my father wanted. I didn't want to see you change that way. So I made you promise me that you would always be the same. That you would always come home just as you left. I was a child, and you were a child. When you promised, we both believed it. Well...I did. I like to think you did, too. I thought that when you came home again, we would up right where we left off. I was wrong.

You came back to me on your sixteenth birthday, just out of training, but you were different. You tried to pretend otherwise, but I knew it wasn't real. When you once might have reached for a watering can or a hoe, you now had a steel sword hanging from your belt. Your reactions were those of a fighter, always ready to defend or attack. You never hurt me, but I saw the bruises on some of the younger boys you had fought. I was devastated. You were becoming like everyone else. You were becoming a soldier and ceasing to be either a boy or a man. That first week you were home, I cried.

I cried, and you found me. I don't think you had realized until then what was happening. You had been around people who were taking the same path as you, so you wouldn't have noticed. You asked me why I was crying, and I couldn't believe it.

"You're not Raguna!" I shouted. "Go away! I want to see my friend, and you're not him. My friend wouldn't act like you!"

You were stunned. You hadn't realized how much you had changed, even if it was obvious to me.

"My friend Raguna wouldn't hurt anyone," I said. "He wouldn't look forward to fighting in the military. He wanted to take over his father's farm. He wanted to give things life. He wanted to create. All I see you wanting is wanting to hurt someone with that fancy sword of yours."

My words were bitter, but they got through to you. The next day, you came to me and told me a secret you'd overheard.

"They're going to invade Norad," you said, referring to the Empire's military. "But they're going to be sneaky. They're going to revive some huge monster and make it attack the villages before going in with their tanks. Reviving the monster is really difficult, though. They have to have someone in place in a village on the border. Kardia, I think it's called. That person will have to grow plants in the caves there to create runes that will help revive the monster. I'm volunteering to go there. Maybe I can regain something of who I was as a child."

You recognize General Lynette's failed plan, don't you? Yes, you knew about it. She told you that you had no clue about the reason for your being in Kardia, didn't she? That's not true. Lynette lied...because I asked her to. In truth, your memory loss was completely unnecessary. You were scheduled to be transported to Kardia in just a few days. I didn't have much time for what I had planned.

Raguna, I'm sorry. I wanted you to be the same boy I knew when I was growing up. I didn't want you to change, and that was selfish of me. I went to Lynette and told her I knew what she was going to do. I knew that you were going to be placed in Kardia for her purposes. I only had one favor to ask: I wanted her to erase your memory. I gave her the medicine for it myself, and made her swear never to let you know it was me who was responsible. I wanted to tell you myself. Lynette agreed.

I was the last person you saw. Lynette had called you into her office, where I was waiting. You looked ready for anything, but you most certainly weren't ready for me.

"Vanessa, what are you doing here?" you asked me.

I smiled.

"Do you remember when we were kids?" I asked. "You told me a story about a beautiful princess who fell in love with a farmer. But her father refused to allow the two to be together. So the farmer joined the army and steadily rose through the ranks. He became the very best soldier in the whole empire. The princess's father sent him on all the most dangerous missions, but he always came back unscathed. One day, when he had risen as high as he could go, he asked the emperor for his daughter's hand in marriage. Do you remember?"

You told me you didn't.

"I remember," I said. "I remember that you never finished the story. Before you go, tell me how it ends."

At first you wouldn't tell me, but I asked again until you relented.

"He dies," you said coldly. "When he asks for the princess's hand in marriage, the emperor has him killed."

It seemed like you were going to say something more, but you didn't. I nodded, and pushed a small mug of liquid at you. I hoped you would assume it was tea, but you smelled it before you drank it.

"Is this poison?" you asked. "It doesn't smell like any poison I've ever known."

"It's a type of poison," I said sadly. "It will erase your memory. It will let you be the person you would have been had the military left you alone."

I expected you to leave, to put the mug down, to do anything but what you did. You kissed me, right here on my lips.

"I love you," you said. "Remember that for me."

And you drank my poison.

I've been telling myself that I was changing the ending. That because I stopped you from becoming the very best soldier in the whole empire, I was keeping you from asking for my hand. I was preventing my father from killing you. But I was lying the whole time. There was more to the story, I'm positive. But because I was selfish, I'll never know what it was. The moment you told me you loved me, I knew that I wanted more than anything to keep you with me. The moment you drank the poison, I knew that I would never have my childhood friend back. I realize now how wrong I was. Instead of helping you be who you were meant to be, I didn't let you become the person you could have been.

I can't tell you everything about yourself. I never knew everything. But I can tell you this much. I can tell you I'm sorry, and that I hope you're happy where you are.

I remember when we were kids. You told me you loved me, even if I didn't have time to say "I love you" back.

I remember you said you loved me.

I remember...even if you don't.

~ Vanessa

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_Now wasn't that sweet? I'm beginning to like Vanessa. There will be one more part, as the rules say I am allowed three chapters. I hope you're enjoying this._

_As always, if you've read this far, please review._


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's Part Three. Please enjoy._

_Disclaimer: Same as Part One_

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**Part Three: No Regrets**

Clouds scudded lazily across the sky, just missing passing in front of the sun. As Raguna pulled up the last turnip of the season, a few drops of sweat fell to the ground, slightly darkening the dirt. This was the last day of spring, the last day to harvest. This was also his last day in Kardia. Mist had spent the last few days trying to change his mind, but it was no use. He'd already given Rosetta a letter to deliver to Vanessa. In fact, he'd better hurry up. He still had to finish harvesting the caves (_why _did he ever think he had to cultivate _every single plot of land _in eight different caves?) and release all of his monsters to the First Forest. At least he had already packed his belongings, which were all neatly stuffed into a few bags inside his house. Raguna stood up and stretched his back; no matter how many years he had spent in the fields, he could never quite manage to get through a whole harvesting without getting an ache in his spine. Behind him, someone giggled. He turned, wondering if little Ceci had come to say good-bye to him. Instead, a tall girl with her dark brown hair neatly pulled back into a bouncy ponytail with a red ribbon was standing ankle-deep in damp earth, her red and white dress trailing in the dirt.

"Vanessa...?" he asked uncertainly. "I though I was going to meet you at the border."

Vanessa smiled softly, her brown eyes shining.

"I know," she said. "But I wanted to see your farm first. You look like you've done pretty well here."

"Yes, I have," Raguna said. "I won't be ready to leave for a while yet. I have a few things to set in order."

"Can I help?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't see why not," he replied after a pause. "We'll have to go into the caves to harvest the crops there, but I can protect you from the monsters. Well, we won't be going in Misty Bloom; it's inaccessible for most of the year. But I've spent a lot time growing plants in the other seven. Is that all right with you?"

Vanessa nodded, and Raguna began leading her to Carmite Cave, the first cave he had ever entered. Vanessa gasped when she saw the plots of lands, strawberries pushing up from the soil. Even though she must have known that he was planting his crops underground, but she obviously hadn't thought much about it. As he led her through the various cave systems, harvesting plants one last time, Vanessa became increasingly brave. She no longer cowered at the monsters, and by the time they left Mt. Gigant, she was helping him hack away at enemies with a space sakura sword. Finally, Raguna pulled up the last onion in Greed Cave.

"It seems so sad," Vanessa said. "You've worked so hard to make this place fertile and profitable. Without you, all of these caves would be overgrown with weeds and scattered with rocks and branches. Oh! Raguna, I'm being selfish again, asking you to leave this. I took away your memories, and now I'm taking away your home! You don't have leave here if you don't want to. I don't want to make you unhappy."

Raguna stood quietly for some time before looking back at her. He smiled and took her hand in his.

"You didn't take my memories," he told her. "You told me what that potion was, and I drank it myself. I made the choice, and I don't regret it at all. I was becoming the type of person that only looks out for himself, and I'm glad you saved me from that."

"But it was still selfish," Vanessa persisted. "And this is selfish, too."

"Is it?" Raguna asked whimsically. "Well, if you're being selfish, then I'm allowed to be selfish too. Stay here with me. You're exactly the type of girl for me. Only a farmer's wife could find the beauty in cave farming, and only a swordsman's wife could be able to follow her husband into danger. I'm a farmer and a swordsman, and you've followed me through all this danger for a few plants. Vanessa, I love you. Will you marry me and stay in Kardia?"

Vanessa let a few tears leak from her eyes. In an impulsive burst, she dropped her weapon and smothered Raguna with a large hug. He laughed and hugged her back. He couldn't remember her from before today, but his body seemed to remember the feel of her. Acting from memory and not conscious thought, he pressed his lips to hers.

"Yes!" Vanessa cried. "I would love nothing more than to marry you. This is the Raguna I fell in love with as a child. You're also the Raguna I fell in love with as a young woman."

As the two separated, Raguna looked at her questioningly.

"You said you couldn't stand the person I was becoming," he said.

"I did say that," she replied. "I never said I didn't still love you, though. Even then, I wanted you to love me, too."

"I always did," Raguna told her.

Befores she could reply, he kissed her again. He didn't regret forgetting his years in the Empire's military, but he certainly was glad his past had caught up to him. Now, he could live his life without any worries...with Vanessa at his side.

~ The End ~

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_Ta-da! That's the end. (To clear up any confusion, Vanessa is Emperor Ethelberd's daughter.) I hope you liked it._

_As always, if you've read this far, please review._


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